Road Bypasses/Usage

Mr. Hayes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list constituencies in which road bypasses have been built since May 1997. [22834]

Dr. Ladyman:
A table has been placed in the Libraries of the House showing which road bypasses have been built since May 1997 and the constituencies where they are located. This includes both Highways Agency and local authority schemes.

John Hemming:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the total kilometres travelled by private motor vehicle users on roads in England and Wales in (a) 1984, (b) 1994 and (c) 2004. [23354]

Data for 1984 are not directly comparable with 1994 and 2004 due to methodological changes.

1 Nov 2005 : Column 870W

Sheffield Tram System

Mr. Hayes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the current status of plans to extend the Sheffield tram system into Rotherham; what costs have been estimated; what consultation has taken place with local (a) residents and (b) community groups; and what financial support his Department plans to supply. [22831]

Derek Twigg:
In September 2004, the promoters of Sheffield Supertram, South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE), submitted their proposals for extending the existing Supertram system.

The estimated capital costs set out in their proposals are £94 million for the Rotherham Parkgate and Royal Hallamshire Hospital loop extension and £89 million for the Rotherham Parkgate and Royal Hallamshire Hospital Spur extension. These costs are at 1992 prices.

The Government asked SYPTE for further work on the scheme's value for money before we can consider their bid for funding. The Department is awaiting the conclusions of this work.

SYPTE, as promoters of the scheme, are responsible for consulting residents and community groups on their proposals.

Speeding Fines

Mr. Evans:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many unpaid speeding fines in (a) Ribble Valley and (b) Lancashire are owed by people who are not British citizens. [23451]

Paul Goggins:
I have been asked to reply.

Information on the nationality of offenders who are given speeding fines is not collected centrally.

Train Numbers

Mr. Hayes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) diesel and (b) electric trains operate in the UK. [23029]

Derek Twigg:
The number of trains operating on the UK main line network is approximately as follows:

Number

Diesel passenger trains

1,250

Electric passenger trains

1,740

Diesel freight locomotives

620

Electric freight locomotives

90

This excludes maintenance vehicles, trains in use by heritage railways and heritage trains kept for occasional use on the main line network.

Transport Accessibility

Sammy Wilson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the average time taken for residents in England to walk to their nearest (a) bus and (b) train station. [23755]

1 Nov 2005 : Column 871W

Ms Buck:
Data from the National Travel Survey on the time taken to walk to the nearest bus stop and train station for households in England are provided in the following table:

Percentage of households, England, 2004

Time taken to walk to nearest bus stop

6 minutes or less

86

7 to 13 minutes

10

14 to 26 minutes

3

27 minutes or more

1

All households

100

Time taken to walk to nearest railway station

6 minutes or less

6

7 to 13 minutes

11

14 to 26 minutes

25

27 minutes or more

58

All households

100

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Air Quality

Anne Main:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many prosecutions have been made against local authorities who fail to meet their targets under air quality management areas in the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [21797]

Mr. Bradshaw:
Under the local air quality management system, there is no obligation on local authorities to meet the air quality objectives, as prescribed in regulations. Part IV of the Environment Act 1995 only requires local authorities to act in pursuit of the achievement" of air quality objectives. This is because responsibility for action needed to regulate sources of emissions often lies outside their remit.

Under section 85 of the Environment Act 1995, the Secretary of State has reserve powers requiring English local authorities to take action where they are failing to make sufficient progress. The Secretary of State may issue directions to require local authorities to take any of the following steps:

Carry out an air quality review and assessment under section 82 of the Act;

Re-do an air quality review and assessment in whole or in part;

Make an order designating an air quality management area (AQMA);

Revoke or modify an AQMA order;

Prepare an action plan;

Modify any action plan;

Implement any actions in an action plan; and

Exercise powers in pursuit of the air quality objectives.

These reserve powers have never been used, and are seen as a last resort, only to be used where local authorities have clearly failed to carry out their local air quality management duties.

1 Nov 2005 : Column 872W

All Government Departments, including mine, have agreed a Memorandum of Understanding", to be found at http://www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/groups/odpm_local gov/documents/page/odpm_locgov_029528.hcsp which formalises arrangements for handling poorly performing local authorities following the introduction of the Comprehensive Performance Assessment. The memorandum encourages central Government to engage" with local authorities to address performance issues, and intervene where performance is giving cause for concern. In the last five years, where authorities have been falling behind with their air quality duties, my officials have engaged with those authorities to learn more about why they are falling behind and provided support as necessary. My officials have also met with a number of authorities who have been delayed with their air quality review and assessment reports. Ministers have also written to a number of authorities requesting submission of late reports and answered a parliamentary question in May 2001 highlighting which authorities had failed to complete their air quality reviews and assessments at that stage.

Avian Influenza

Mr. Godsiff:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many birds entered quarantine in each of the last six months; how many were tested for avian influenza; and how many (a) live birds and (b) dead birds tested positive for avian influenza. [22128]

Mr. Bradshaw:
Between 1 May 2005 and 21 Oct 2005 our records show that 12,354 captive birds were imported from countries outside of the EU. These figures do not include imports of poultry.

All imported captive birds are held in quarantine for 30 days. During this time tests are carried out for the avian influenza virus.

During this period we have only received confirmation of two positive tests, which have recently been detected, of the avian influenza virus.

Bill Wiggin:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what mechanisms are being put in place to help farmers to check their poultry for avian influenza. [22863]

Mr. Bradshaw:
A private veterinary surgeon should always be consulted when birds become ill and the cause cannot be identified. If avian influenza or Newcastle disease are suspected the divisional veterinary manager should be notified immediately.

Biosecurity advice has been distributed to industry partners, and signs of the disease can be found on the DEFRA website at: http://defraweb/animalh/diseases/notifiable/disease/ai/index.htm.

Bill Wiggin:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what contingency plans are in place to deal with a poultry farm which has been contaminated with avian influenza. [22864]

Mr. Bradshaw:
DEFRA has recently reviewed and updated its Exotic Animal Disease Generic Contingency Plan following a period of public consultation. It includes a section dealing specifically with an outbreak of avian influenza and was laid before Parliament on 21 July

1 Nov 2005 : Column 873W

2005. It is available on the DEFRA website. In the event of avian influenza being confirmed on a poultry farm the plan would be invoked immediately.

The contingency plan is supported by operational and veterinary instructions that have also been published on the DEFRA website.

Bill Wiggin:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what estimate she has made of the quantity of poultry that may become infected in the event of an avian influenza outbreak; [22935]

(2) what estimate she has made of the quantity of poultry that will be killed through (a) infection and (b) controlled culling as a result of an avian influenza outbreak. [22936]

Mr. Bradshaw:
The last outbreak in the UK was in 1992, and affected only one turkey shed. The outbreak in the Netherlands in 2003 involved the culling of millions of birds. Therefore we must be ready for all eventualities.

Our policy is to stamp out disease the moment it appears and to minimise the risk of the disease spreading to the maximum extent possible.

Bill Wiggin:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what scenarios the Government have developed contingency plans in the event of an outbreak of avian influenza. [22937]

Mr. Bradshaw:
The Government's Exotic Animal Disease Generic Contingency Plan includes a section dealing specifically with an outbreak of avian influenza. The Government have recognised that it is also sensible to plan for a wide set of events, however unlikely these may be, and is, accordingly, developing additional plans.

Andrew Rosindell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures are in place to check chickens for avian influenza. [22943]

Mr. Bradshaw:
The existing legislation requires that any person who suspects that his chickens have avian influenza must immediately inform the local office of the State Veterinary Service and take steps to reduce the disease risk.

There is in addition an annual survey to monitor low pathogenic avian influenza in poultry flocks.

Mr. Lansley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether she plans to vaccinate poultry against the AH5N1 strain of avian influenza. [23117]

Mr. Bradshaw:
Prophylactic vaccination of poultry is prohibited under council directive 92/40/EC. There is no avian influenza with a current marketing authorisation in the UK.

Bill Wiggin:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions her Department has had with other countries regarding the devising of measures to prevent the spread of avian influenza among animals. [23267]

1 Nov 2005 : Column 874W

Mr. Bradshaw:
My officials attended a series of meetings in Brussels last week, organised by the European Commission, to discuss issues on avian influenza (Al).

On 25 October the EU agreed to introduce an extensive ban on imports into the Community of wild birds, along with new restrictions on the import of pet birds. In line with previous EU-wide measures, we have already banned imports of all live birds and products which could potentially transmit the disease from countries with the H5N1 strains of avian influenza.